The earth has been his life
Career geologist is also a veteran director of the B.C. Grapegrowers Association. By Judie Steeves
D
iamonds and grapes both require the right geology underground before they pay off. Geologist and grape grower Ed Schiller has travelled the world exploring for minerals and tasting wines, finally settling on a historic farm in East Kelowna—on the proceeds of a famous mineral find.
For the past decade he has served on the board of the B.C. Grapegrowers Association and enjoyed not only the fruits of his labour, but also those of his fellow grape growers.
A geologist by training, Schiller’s claim to fame is not the gems of Foch, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir he grows in his one-acre vineyard overlooking the Okanagan Valley, but the diamond- bearing kimberlite he drilled in the Northwest Territories on Sept. 9, 1991 that became the Ekati Diamond Mine— Canada’s first.
After decades as a geological consultant in mining areas around the world, Schiller was consulting from Calgary, or “chasing rainbows,” as he calls it, when he met Kelowna prospector Chuck Fipke and joined in his search for diamonds in the NWT. “It’s all detective work. You have to find the right geological setting; you use geochemistry and geophysics, then you drill and assess cores. Every commodity has a unique setting.
“It was all Chuck’s find. His theory was that there was something big in that area of the Northwest Territories,” Schiller recalled. Finding diamonds involves looking for certain indicator minerals, he explains from the porch of his stone heritage home, the 1904 Reid House, with a sweeping view out over the farms of East Kelowna. Although Canadians are trained in mineral exploration because of this country’s size and geology, he says they didn’t understand that much about diamonds—prior to this find.
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Winter 2014-15 19
Ed Schiller relaxes in his East Kelowna heritage home.
JUDIE STEEVES
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